Thriving Beyond Corporate: Leadership with Personal Fulfillment

Angeline Gillings shares her journey from corporate leadership to becoming a "Business Archangel" who helps professionals achieve meaningful success while maintaining personal fulfillment. Her decision to start her own business was inspired by a profound moment watching a bird on a thin branch, teaching her to trust her own capabilities rather than external support systems.

Angeline Gillings

• Tel: +1 305 972 7751
• Website: www.ampgbusiness.com
• Email: angeline.gillings@gmail.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelinegillings
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/angelinegillings

• Angeline has over 30 years of corporate experience including roles as board director, managing director, and senior positions in marketing and innovation
• She describes herself as passionate, empathetic, and people-oriented with family as her core priority
• The quote "A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch but in its wings" became a pivotal inspiration for her entrepreneurial journey
• Her coaching philosophy balances business success with personal fulfillment - believing you need both to truly thrive
• She helps leaders and teams develop resilience, make smart decisions, and practice authentic leadership
• Originally from Jamaica, Angeline now lives in Miami and brings her diverse global experience to her coaching practice

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Shireen's Bookkeeping
• 2:11 Welcome & Bonus Content Info
• 4:16 Introducing Guest Angeline Gillingsby
• 6:13 Bird Quote & Entrepreneurial Inspiration
• 10:01 True Crime Discussion
• 19:39 Angeline's Background & Life Philosophy
• 23:50 Closing & Next Episode Preview

Transcript

Voiceover: 0:03

Tales from the wild, stories from the heart. A journey into the mind and soul of fired up business professionals, where they share their vision for the future and hear from a different non-profit organization every month as they create awareness of their goals and their needs. Dive into a world of untamed passion as we join our host, Shireen Botha, for this month's episode of Friends from Wild Places.

Shireen Botha: 0:35

All right, welcome. Welcome. You are listening to Shireen here, your virtual boutique bookkeeper and QuickBooks advisor. Are you running your business with just a CPA? Well, think again, guys.

Shireen Botha: 0:49

In today's fast-paced world, managing your finances goes beyond just tax time. Meet Shireen's Bookkeeping Services. That's me, your partner in seamless financial management. We provide expert bookkeeping that keeps your cash flow healthy and your peace of mind intact. With our tailored services, you'll save time, reduce stress and gain insights that empower you to make informed decisions. Now that's important. Why settle for just compliance when you can thrive? And here's a glimpse into the future. I know AI-powered tools are revolutionizing bookkeeping. Imagine automated reports and predictive analytics, giving you a new edge in business. So if you know business owners who rely solely on their CPA, introduce us. Or, more importantly, if that's you, get a hold of me. Let's take your financial management to the next level, because when your books are smart, your business can soar. Go, check me out at www. shireensbookkeeping. com and allow me to keep your books clean so you don't have to. Shireen's Bookkeeping Services your bookkeeper for the future. Welcome back. You are listening to Friends from World Places with myself, shireen, your host and my amazing co-host, Tanya Scotece. Welcome, Hello, Tanya. How are you doing?

Tanya Scotece: 2:22

Oh, doing great over here in the midst of the heat in Miami. So always and I think it's opposite for you, shireen, right it's, you're all snuggled up in your jacket it's winter months in South Africa. Yeah, it's amazing, amazing the difference. So, yeah, super excited for our podcast this morning and super excited for our guests. So I'll turn it back to you, shireen.

Shireen Botha: 2:47

Well, thank you very much, Tanya. Yes, I am in the winter times at this moment in South Africa for now. And yes, Tanya is zooming in from the very warm Miami, which is pretty, pretty exciting. I love Miami. Very warm Miami, which is pretty, pretty exciting. I love Miami. Yeah, we have an amazing guest this month that we're super excited to introduce, but we cannot go any further without chatting about our extra content. Tanya, do you want to mention to the listeners about the subscription?

Tanya Scotece: 3:22

Sure. So we have what we call our bonus content, where it's unedited raw material. We dive deeper into subjects that maybe you want to know a little bit more about, that are not so family friendly. So for just as little as $5 a month, you can subscribe to our additional content and get all the scoop. You can also request topics, so if there's something that you just want to know more about, maybe you can't find it out in the internet world or anything like that feel free to drop us a line and we'd be happy to collaborate more on the topic of your choice. So that's what our subscription is, and share about our podcast Friends from Wild Places with your friends, colleagues, businesses even team building experiences.

Shireen Botha: 4:12

So back to you, shireen, love it. Thank you, tanya. Yes, so back to our introduction of Angeline Gillingsby. So excited to have her this month. Angeline is a business archangel who empowers both experienced professionals and student leaders to achieve meaningful success. She assists frustrated leaders and teams in delivering strong results while remaining aligned with their sense of fulfillment. Through coaching, speaking and training, she provides individuals with the mindset and tools to lead with clarity, collaborate across various environments and thrive under pressure. Her practical, people-centered approach emphasizes resilience, smart decision-making and authentic leadership. Over a corporate career spanning more than 30 years, she has held a variety of leadership and specialist roles, including board director, managing director and senior positions in marketing, product innovation and quality control, sure gaining deep insight from multi-nationals and companies with a global footprint. So that's pretty exciting. We're so happy and excited to have you on the show with us, angeline. Welcome.

Angeline Gillings: 5:28

Thank you. Thank you so much, happy to be here. Yes, of course.

Shireen Botha: 5:34

We always like to start our series with a little bit of quote of the day. Well, today we're doing a quote of the day which has been inspired by Angeline herself. So, Angeline, I'm going to say the quote, but if you don't mind sharing with the listeners what it means to you and how it inspired you. So the quote is a bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch but in its wings, so always believe in yourself. I find that such a beautiful quote, Angeline, so please tell us a little bit of what it means to you and what inspired you.

Angeline Gillings: 6:18

Okay, so a little story behind that. After leaving corporate, I um deciding what, what I wanted to do next. I want I knew that I wanted to spend more time pouring into others because in corporate we were, you know, always um facing the numbers and, uh, the deliverables, and I thought there was a gap for me in terms of how much I was able to support and give back to the community. So I was in two minds Do I want to go back in a structured working environment nine to five, or do I want to start my own business? Typically, starting my own business was never under consideration at all.

Angeline Gillings: 7:06

So I was sitting outside in my garden and I looked up and I saw this bird on the very, very tip of what I saw was the smallest, thinnest limb on the tree smallest thinnest limb on the tree and it was swaying because the bird, while it was small relative to the limb, it was a big bird. And I sat and I looked at the bird and I said why would this bird go on the thinnest limb on the tree when there are so many other branches, et cetera? I was at the very top looking out, and I actually took a photo because I was so intrigued by it, was it? I just looked, I was intrigued why was a bird on this limb and swaying, almost feeling, as I'm thinking, that it's going to topple off the limb? The limb about half an hour, within one hour, after someone who I was speaking with in terms of my path going forward sent me this quote and and I said what this is so strange.

Angeline Gillings: 8:18

I just experienced seeing this bird on the limb and and I was, uh, really intrigued as to what this bird was doing on the thinnest limb. And then I got this quote and immediately I thought that was a message for me. It was about trusting my wings and and not the branches on which I was sitting. And another perspective was that the bird was on the highest limb and looking out, and I think the bird had a kind of viewpoint that was just expansive and that also spoke to me in terms of just, expand your horizon, look beyond the narrow boundaries that you're familiar with and look beyond, look at these wider horizons. And it inspired me and I made my decision. I was going to start my business, wow.

Shireen Botha: 9:20

I love that. That's amazing. Well, listeners, if you don't know who said that quote, it was Charlie Wardle is the person that said that quote, and I think it was very inspiring quote for everyone. Actually, I actually was very touched when I read that quote and I thought that is so true and I think we all need to learn to believe in our own wings and not in the branch that we're balancing on, and I love that. So, yes, thank you very much, angeline for that.

Shireen Botha: 9:57

Listeners, you all know that this is the time of the podcast where myself and Tanya, we are a little bit of not a little bit. We do enjoy true crime quite a bit. We love watching all the YouTube channels and following the latest crimes that are going on and seeing the outcomes. So a few podcasts ago I can't remember, when we spoke about the Karen Reid case, she was actually found not guilty. I know we were between, we were really in two minds of what was going to happen to her, but yeah, she was actually found not guilty. So crazy about that. But today we're not going to talk about that, about that. But today we're not going to talk about that.

Shireen Botha: 10:50

I the second thing that I really enjoy doing in my spare time and watching when it comes to like YouTube channels, is definitely the paranormal side of things and, quite frankly, before ghost adventures became this massive commercialized thing, I actually used to watch them when they still had their own little channel. So if you don't know who I'm talking about, ghost Adventures are these few guys that go in and investigate houses that are told to have some sort of spirit, you know good or evil, whatever and then they go with all their tools to go and, you know, scope out the house to see if they can get any kind of response back from these spirits in the house. And anyway, the the ghost adventures, which is starring erin goodwin, was one of the members of the team. Um, they've become quite commercialized now and they have this show called ghost adventures, which I'm actually not too sure what channel you can find it on, but, um, it's definitely on one of the main channels, on dstv or, uh, one of the other channeling programs.

Shireen Botha: 12:08

But aaron goodwin obviously this case centers around him and the attempt on his life, but the attempt on his life was actually by his own wife and his own wife reached out to a very um, one of the criminal guys that were behind jail, um, and I got paid him to go and, uh, end the laugh of her husband, which is aaron goodwin I'm trying not to say all the trigger words, but it is what it is. Um, so basically listeners. Yeah. So, victoria goodwin I'm trying not to say all the trigger words, but it is what it is. Um, so basically listeners. Yeah. So victoria goodwin is erin goodwin's wife.

Shireen Botha: 12:54

Um, she was arrested in march on charges of solicitation to commit murder and conspiracy to commit murder after authorities. The authorities said she communicated with a florida inmate last year and offered to pay him more than eleven thousand five hundred dollars in a plot to have her husband murdered. In april, prosecutors agreed to drop the solicitation charge in exchange for her pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Authorities unraveled the murder for hire plot when the inmate's cell phone was seized as contraband. The inmate was identified as Grant Amato, who is serving a life sentence for the murders of his parents and brother. Amato killed his family after an argument over his obsession with a webcam model which had caused turmoil in the family for months. So basically, she was found guilty and my biggest question here is you know, I was listening to her written apology in front of everybody and I wondered to myself you know, do you?

Shireen Botha: 14:14

And I'm asking you, ladies now, do you think her apology was genuine, or do you think she's just sorry for being caught? Because I don't know, I just don't know. But I'll give you my two-said piece now. Angeline, do you want to tell us your thoughts?

Angeline Gillings: 14:35

Yeah, well, put it this way, when I saw her reading her apology, it was touching, it was moving, she was very emotional and you can well I got, could be easily caught up with just feeling sorry for her. But as I was listening to her, my own thoughts, ron, was just this is just wickedness, that was it. And I believe that her emotions reading the apology et cetera, was more about just being scared and afraid of possibilities of what was to come, and I don't believe it was genuine. I believe her attempt was really what she wanted. It just happened to not have worked and then it had become embarrassing. So, while she may feel sorry, it's why. Why is she feeling sorry? It's probably more because of the consequences of having been caught. So I don't think it was genuine from the sense that she was sorry that she attempted, I think it's more because she got caught, it didn't work out and she was embarrassed and all the other things. So I don't believe it was genuine.

Shireen Botha: 16:10

Right, right, I mean, goodness sakes, if you're so unhappy in the marriage, get a divorce. Exactly.

Tanya Scotece: 16:17

Tanya what about you? Yeah, no, I agree. I agree with the conversation this morning as far as just you know, just disingenuous, and I think you know this is my opinion, having studied in criminal forensics, criminal justice, in the mortuary world, so I'm around dead bodies quite a bit. I've been around dead bodies since I started mortuary in 2003. And I will share with you that you know.

Tanya Scotece: 16:42

There's a very interesting thing is if it's in the moment, like, let's say, for example, in a fleeting moment, somebody pulls out something a gun, a knife or something and, you know, commits murder, you almost can understand that moment. As far as that, you know just that anger, you know, cannot regulate their own emotions, which is problematic as opposed to a premeditated, step-by-step, the research, the conversations that you know, when you see people on the internet Googling ways to kill people and how are they going to die and how long does it take, and all these extra types of add-ons, so to speak. So when you're having conversations and planning add-ons, so to speak. So when you're having conversations and planning, you can actually stop at any time, right, you can actually stop. So when you go through with it, in my opinion, people are, they're upset because they got caught, and that's that's how I I.

Tanya Scotece: 17:36

That was my takeaway from the specific. You know reading. You know reading the, the letter, you know. Another thing that I always find interesting is, you know, sometimes I almost wonder if they even write their own letter, because sometimes it's almost like it doesn't even sound like their own voice. So I don't know. That's another whole conversation, but that's my two cents.

Shireen Botha: 17:57

Right, I know you took the words right out of my mouth, tanya I just feel like she tried everything. She tried to say that you know every anything that she thought that people wanted to hear, until she ran out of excuses and she ran out of ideas of what she was gonna do and eventually she was like okay, well, now I'm gonna spend time in jail. And when she was reading from the letter, there was other than the crocodile tears which, I'm sorry, I just it was very like there wasn't. I didn't feel anything like I just sat there listening to her and I really didn't feel any sort of an emotion towards her. Um, so, yeah, I think, as I said, you know, I think she's going to the right place and there is enough time while she's behind bars to change. I'm not saying that you can't change. You can and you can change your life, turn your life around and make better decisions moving forward. There's always space to become a better person. Moving forward, there's always space to become a better person. So, um, I wish her all the best and I hope that she really does, uh, turn her life around and become a better person. Um, and then, on saying that, I would love to just pop in with a little bit of a buzzsprout ad here.

Shireen Botha: 19:23

Uh, podcasting, as your listeners know, isn't hard when you have the right partners. So, and team at buzz sprout is passionate about helping us succeed and you succeed. So join over a hundred thousand podcasters already using buzzsprout to get their message and your message out to the world. So when I started this podcast, I didn't know where to begin and it was quite overwhelming. But using Buzzsprout makes it super easy and straightforward. I just have to upload my podcast in one place and it gets spread out across all the platforms. So it's fantastic, I love Buzzsprout across all the platforms. So it's fantastic, I love Buzzsprout. To start your own podcast, just go to the link in the show notes. This helps support our show and it also lets Buzzsprout know that you're supporting them as well. So, buzzsprout, let's create something new together. Wonderful sprout, let's create something new together. Um, wonderful angeline. First of all, I really would love to know a little bit about who you are, um, and let the listeners know a little bit about your background okay.

Angeline Gillings: 20:40

So I, I am passionate, I'm empathetic and love people my family, my children, my granddaughter Now I have a young granddaughter and my extended family is my heart, it's my everything, they're my everything, my family. I love working with people, and part of the choice that I made in terms of the work that I do had to do with the fact that I wanted not just to work with leaders, but with teams. So I want teams to be engaged, to be collaborative, to be supportive of each other. I like peace, I like success, and so I would like to support businesses, and my aim is to support businesses, emerging leaders, to be their best self.

Angeline Gillings: 21:49

One of the things that I said to myself as I was starting business just based on my own, over 30 years of being in corporate life and I mentioned earlier about chasing the numbers and you know just always going, going, going. You know just always going, going, going. One of the things that really guides me now, as I'm supporting my you know my plans, is that it's about thriving and being successful in business, but your personal fulfillment must be a part of that, and it's something that I'm not letting go. Yes, we're going for the success in the business, but the success in business is not all. It's about your personal fulfillment. So you have to define that for yourself, you have to define those boundaries and what drives you to to be happy, and that's so important for me. So, um, that's it in a nutshell. Anything more about my um work life, then we can talk a little about it.

Shireen Botha: 22:57

But that's it in a quick nutshell um, angeline, I can't put my finger on it. Uh, your, where are you originally from?

Angeline Gillings: 23:09

I'm from Jamaica. Yes, I'm from Jamaica, living in Miami Florida, so I'm very proud of my Jamaican roots.

Shireen Botha: 23:21

I love it Just shows you how we have visitors that are entrepreneurs and business owners from all over the world, that have moved from one place to another, that just have genuinely unique journeys and inspiring stories to tell, and Angeline is one of those people.

Tanya Scotece: 23:43

So tune in next week for part two from Friends from Wild Places.

Voiceover: 23:50

You've been listening to Friends from Wild Places with Shireen Botha. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast from the links to catch every episode and unleash your passion.